Drywall Screws: What to Know Before You Buy

Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for years.

Johnathan C. Brewer II is a licensed general contractor specializing in kitchen, bath remodels, and general construction with two decades of professional experience.

Drywall screws are the standard fastener for securing drywall to walls or ceilings. While nails are sometimes used, drywall screws are favored for their strong tacking power, ease of use, and economy. Learn basics about drywall screws, including recommended lengths and gauges, thread types, heads, and points.

How Long the Drywall Screw Should Be

Choose the length of the drywall screw according to the thickness of the drywall:

• 1/2-inch drywall: Use 1-1/4-inch or 1-5/8-inch drywall screws for 1/2-inch-thick drywall. Most drywall installed in homes is 1/2-inch thick.
• 5/8-inch drywall: Use 1-5/8-inch or 2-inch drywall screws on 5/8-inch-thick drywall. Thicker drywall is often required to comply with fire code. At 5/8-inch, type-x drywall slows the spread of flames and is used in garages and walls adjacent to furnace rooms.
• 1/4-inch drywall: Use 1- to 1 1/4-inch drywall screws for 1/4-inch-thick drywall. Drywall of this thickness is sometimes used to skim walls and ceilings. Because it is flexible, quarter-inch drywall can be used to form curves.

What Type of Drywall Screw Thread to Use

Use coarse-thread drywall screws for screwing drywall to wood studs. Use fine-thread drywall screws for screwing drywall to metal studs.

• Coarse thread screws: Also known as W-type screws, coarse thread drywall screws work best for wood studs. The wide threads mesh with the wood grain and provide more gripping area than fine thread screws.
• Fine thread drywall screws: Also known as S-type screws, fine thread drywall screws should be used for attaching drywall to metal studs. Coarse threads have a tendency to chew through the metal, never gripping. Fine threads work well with metal because they have sharp points and are self-threading.

Which Drywall Screw Gauge to Use

Use a #6 gauge drywall screw when attaching drywall to studs in good condition. Use the thicker #8 gauge drywall screw when driving into older wood, where more gripping power is required. Gauge refers to the diameter of the drywall screw. As gauge numbers increase, the screw becomes larger in diameter. So, a #6 drywall screw is thinner than a #8 drywall screw.

Tip

On product labels, gauge is often expressed as the second number after the length. For example, a 1-5/8-inch long screw with a #6 gauge would be shown as: "1-5/8 inch x 6."

Using Drywall Screws vs. Drywall Nails

Before drywall screws came into widespread use, drywall was nailed into place with short, wide-head nails. While drywall screws are usually preferred, nails are faster and easier to drive. Drywall screws take time to place and to drive, especially when manually placing the screws and driving with an ordinary drill instead of a collated driver as the professionals use. It's also tricky to get the depth of a drywall screw just right. Turning the screw even a bit more can cause it to pull through the drywall paper. But it's easier to get drywall nail depth right when hammering. Not only that but the hammer creates smooth divots for filling in with drywall compound later on.

Tip

A drywall nail that has created a nail pop can be fixed by driving a couple of drywall screws on either side of the nail.

Which Type of Drywall Screw to Use For Your Project

• Walls, Wood Studs: For most work involving 1/2-inch drywall installed on wood studs, use a phosphate-coated, coarse thread #6 gauge 1-1/4-inch drywall screw. For greater holding power, use a 1-5/8-inch drywall screw.
• Walls, Metal Studs: For attaching drywall to metal studs, use a phosphate-coated, fine thread #6 gauge 1-1/4-inch drywall screw.
• Ceilings: For hanging drywall on ceilings, use the longer 1-5/8-inch drywall screw.

Drywall Screw Features

• Bugle head: Bugle head refers to the cone-like shape of the screw head. This shape helps the screw stay in place without tearing all the way through the outer paper layer.
• Sharp point: Some drywall screws specify that they have a sharp point. The point makes it easier to stab the screw into the drywall paper and get the screw started.
• Drill-driver: For most drywall screws, use a #2 Phillips head drill-driver bit. While many construction screws have begun to adopt Torx, square, or heads other than Phillips, most drywall screws still use the Phillips head.
• Coatings: Black drywall screws have a phosphate coating to resist corrosion. A different type of drywall screw has a thin vinyl coating that makes them even more corrosion-resistant. Additionally, they are easier to draw in because the shanks are slippery.

Special screws are needed for drywall because drywall screws have deeper threads than a regular screw. This keeps them in place and makes sure they don't dislodge easily from the wall.

You should use a drywall anchor when hanging heavy objects or there is no stud behind the wall. Without a stud, the screw could slip out easily.